Updated August 2026 If you suddenly need to fly because of a death in the family, you may still be able to get a bereavement fare. The list of airlines offering them is much shorter than it once was, but they have not disappeared. As of August 2026, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada…
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Welcome back. Our editor has been a bit behind with other things, but we’re trying to get back on track and back in the saddle. Stay tuned for more guests, and more information. For today, more from previous guest Dan Webb.
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Our editor will be going on the road for a few days, as a roving reporter for our sister project, Transit Wisdom, reviewing Amtrak’s Autotrain. Until then, here’s all the news that fit to podcast.
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We’re reporting in this week from the birthplace of Flight Wisdom, affectionately known as the Flight Wisdom Summer Palace. Flight Wisdom began in the summer of 2006, when a bunch of us decided to get into the habit of subject-based blogging. I, your usual host, the Editor, also known as the Flight Wisdom Guru, hope to give you the chance to hear some of the other voices of Flight Wisdom this week.
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We wanted to get a special release of the briefing in commemoration of Peter Graves.
Enjoy the latest in airline service changes.
We haven’t been writing enough lately. That does happen sometimes when real life interferes with this(which is unfortunately a hobby). Here’s what we’ve been reading about. If Pat Kiernan of New York City based station NY1 can make a name for himself reading the newspaper and running Pat’s Papers online, we can try to see if people like such a feature.
This week’s latest in route developments.
Image via Wikipedia We’re slowly inching toward our goal of reaching 1000 posts. We hope you’ve been enjoying our increased efforts. Air Canada yesterday inaugurated service from Montreal to Fort-de-France, Martinique. The service will be offered on Saturdays until August 29th, and then will recommence on a year-round basis on December 5th. Alaska Airlines inaugurated…
New service is proudly announced, but cancellations are usually not. One day, we discover that a flight we recall is no longer on the books. Of late, many flights are being cancelled, airlines are slashing capacity. Air Canada launched its Portland, Oregon to Calgary, Alberta service yesterday. The service, operated by 50-seater CRJs, operates once…
British Airways will be adding nonstop service from London Heathrow to Las Vegas on October 25th. The service will be operated with Boeing 777 aircraft. Virgin Atlantic currently operates service from London Gatwick to Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is launching service from San Juan, Puerto Rico from London’s Gatwick airport via Antigua. The service…
We’ve been a bit busy the last few days. And there is always so much to read to keep up and talk about. We’re going to try to sit down for a few hours and catch up on the backlog. In the meantime, here are some of the things we’ve been reading. South African Airways…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Best Western International has partnered with Southwest Airlines as a loyalty partner. Beginning February 15th, members of their reward program will be able to earn Rapid Reward credits. Portland-based SeaPort Airlines will serve the Oregon communities of Astoria and Newport beginning March 15th with service to Portland International Airport…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Airlines are constantly looking at new forms of technology. How they can automate processes, how theycan add features to increase their competitiveness… Brett Snyder, the Cranky Flier himself, visited LiveTV, the In-Flight Entertainment company which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JetBlue Airways. They are preparing to start installing…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] There is a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, despite the economic downturn. Here are some tales of people who haven’t done too well of late, and here’s hoping travel experiences improve in the new year. Thanks to Chris Elliott and the Consumerist…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Obese people have the right to two airline seats for the price of one on flights within Canada…because they are “functionally disabled.” The decision, made by the Canadian Transportation Agency, was appealed by the major Canadian carriers, who lost their final appeal last week. The question is what…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Jose P Isern Comas via Flickr"][/caption] Responding to “Obama fervor”, AirTran Airways is adding more flights to Washington D.C. for the inauguration. On January 21st, following the inauguration, they will increase service from Baltimore Washington to Atlanta and Milwaukee and Washington Dulles to Atlanta. United is launching service from…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Jonathan Caves via Flickr"][/caption] We thought we’d clear our backlog of interesting news out before the weekend. Enjoy! JetBlue set a world performance record with one of its Embraer 190s as the regional jet was returned to JetBlue’s home base at JFK from its time as Sarah Palin’s plane…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Air Canada has announced it will roll back some previously imposed fees. It is nice for an airline actually repeal something it claimed to impose due to high fuel costs. Air Canada announced last week it would stop charging the $25 second bag fee it established in May.…
Jazz, Air Canada’s regional airline, plans to reduce fuel consumption by dropping life vests from its flights, which equal about fifty-five pounds less on its 50-seater Dash-8s. Canadian regulations allow airlines to use floatation devices, such as the seat cushions, as long as the planes remain within 56 miles of shore.and a number of its…
We’d like to remind our readers that the links embedded in each article go to a press release or news article with more details than our news briefs. Each week we scour the press releases and such for these articles. Regional airline SkyWest has sued Delta Air Lines over the airline’s withholding of $25 million…
Things have been incredibly busy here at ‘Blog Central’. Fortunately, the holiday season is upon us, hopefully bringing lots of time for us to catch up on all the airline news thats fit to blog. So here we are in no particular order(although newest ones will be first). Jetblue is reminding people of its 144…
Air Canada will be offering nonstop service from Ottawa to Frankfurt beginning June 1st as well as nonstop service from Toronto-Dusseldorf six times weekly beginning May 1st…and a second daily nonstop from Calgary-Frankfurt on April 14th. American Eagle began nonstop service today from Flint’s Bishop International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Service will be…
Lots to cover…never enough time… United Airlines announced new service from Los Angeles to Des Moines, IA and Austin, TX effective February 13th, and will be operated by Skywest’s CRJ-700 regional jets with 6 first class and 60 economy seats, including Economy Plus. Beginning on March 3rd, Delta will be offering flights from Lawton/Ft. Sill,…
Midwest Airlines has added the option to purchase a customized Travel Guard single-trip travel insurance policy specifically for Midwest customers during the ticket purchase process on the Midwest Airlines website and through their other distribution means. We love trip insurance….it protects you from the horror stories we often collect about horrible situations that have happened…